My friend calls his column The Observant Jew. More than just a catchy title, he truly observes things through Torah lenses. May we all be as fortunate: When Yisro heard about the splitting of the sea and the war with Amalek, he came to Moshe. The Torah says he had heard all that Elokim did to Moshe and Israel. The name Elokim connotes judgment, and Yisro believed the media reports that although HaShem saved the Jews, He was angry with them and led them into raging waters and sent a vicious enemy upon them. Moshe took his father-in-law inside and explained the truth. He told Yisro all that HaShem had done to Pharaoh and Egypt. He used the name connoting mercy, explaining that the plagues and everything the Egyptians suffered was on account of what they had done to the Jewish People. HaShem punishes measure for measure out of kindness to let us know what weve done wrong, much as a warning light on a cars dashboard alerts you to a problem internally. This is what He did to the Egyptians. It was not harsh judgment but mercy. Similarly, the crossing of the sea and the war with Amalek had an important purpose to transform us. It was not vengeance, but mercy. Yisro was shocked. Hed never looked at life that way before. He therefore said, Now I know that HaShem (mercy) is greater than any Elokim (aspect of judgment) for it was in the very things they sinned [that He punished the Egyptians.] First and foremost when we accept the Torah, we must know that G-d is merciful above all else. His Torah is not intended to subjugate us or prevent us from being happy, though thats how some cynics will portray it.. On the contrary, as Yisro learned, HaShem gives us the Torah out of love, mercy, and a desire for us to be happy and whole. Compliments of The Observant Jew
Posted on: Wed, 15 Jan 2014 16:51:13 +0000
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